The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-01-19
THE PULLMAN MAN.
HOW HE MANAGES TO GET AHEAD
OF THE NQUlSITWE SPOTTER.


yes" said an ex-rnernber of the Pullman
force, who had run through from New
ork to the far west Oh the most frequentcd
highways Of travel. there are great oppo1-
tunities in the experience of the sleeping car
nan. 1t takes man with a head on him to
kll6yy what he is about. And I guess there
are fewer of them caught in any monkey
business t. Ii H. any other set of trusted en-
ployes in the country. There are new men
going on the road all the time, and those who
have a predispOsition -croobedness are
never allowed to grow old in tho ways OF
sin"
$50 they knock down?"
"Well, that's broad question They don't
all do it. But there is just the same chance
for Pullman man as there is for street car
conductor, but the risks are greater and he
has more to lose by it. But the knock down
system is by no means an ancient custom.
It's devious paths are known; sometimes the
broad light of investigation trac in upon
them, and the man who is caught loses his
head and Sl25 a month
ITO BEGIN with, a sleeping car man must
famiiiarize himself with an intricate system
of single-entry bookkeeping. On every trip
he carries with him a whole set of clerical
apparatus for keeping his accounts. They
comprise diagrams of the berths, check books,
y
make receipts out the same a ships mani
fest, and if he wants to pocket couple of
dollars, or a five or a ten, he has to keep track
of an immense amount of detail doctor up
his accounts in good shape, keep an eagle eye
on the porter and run the gauntlet of spot
ters"
.Spotter ~
Eyes, spo5ters. There is whole army of
them on he road incessantly-na and
O.. yp1
al the time They never use passes. If they
g through from New York to st. Louis, or
from Boston, to Washington, they buy first
class tickets, and pay for them with checks,
Just the same as wealthy railroad tourists.
Bat they become known. They've got to
hang around the car in day time a little, to
get track of things, and good fly porter who
can't 7iZ. up a spotter when he sees him amt
worth having.
IRA CHG THE CROOKEDNESS.
% sp0tter, when he starts out to get the
drOp Oh q suspected conductor, carries along
diagram of the car and full set OF equip
ments. He keeps an accurate account of all
berths sold occupied between important
points, and makes a return at the other end of
the line The first trace of croOkedness will
be followed by several more spoilers follow
ing up the same conductor, until the evidence
is dead against him, and then there is a sud
zen Vacancy III UQ6 IOrc6.
But the career of the spotter is not path
f roses. If the conductor doesn't tumble to
inn the porter does in nine cases out of ten,
nd then that innocent spotter is marked for
fe.
"When he turns in at night he sticks his
lOes under the lower berth. The porter
)mes along after while, marks the number
+ the section on them, and takes them to the
ear of the car to put a quarter of a ,Ilar
line on them The first thing the porter
I Jes is to examine them closely, md IF there
re no marks on the shoes, he proceeds in
llm, natter-of-fact way to "brand" them
le puts 'porter's mark on the shoe, tha1
very Pullman porter from here to San Fran
CISCO will comprehend the instant he lays his
ives on it. Everywhere that spOtter travels
ahe1ittie hieroglyphic on his shoes does him
up, and he never gets down to the cause of it.
They work the women's shoes, too when they
find them, and when they can't they
mark their little caba or valise in some con-
enent place
Then the spoilers have the game stocked
u } against themselves sometimes If he looks
J. le an offensive fellow, of more than the
& -erage meanness, he stands in jeopardy.
re porter rakes in from s. to so on an
1 rerage run, and the conductor says, See
re. George, we've got to bull the Market
I'd the porter knows what that means and !
lips in. Then the conductor makes up his
accounts SO above what they ought to be,
likes up the diagram, and punches a few
more checks, When he makes his report, in
srsad of turning in $40, he turns in $50 The |
sI0tter, who has been trained in the school of |
SpotIess virtue and umblemished truth, only
makes it out $40
MISTAKE IN THE FIGURES.
The next thing that happened to the spot
ter, he is taken to the front and investigated.
The manager says: Look here, Mr. Spotter
this thing amt right; how is it you only show
up S40P
That must be right, says the spotter, feel
ing; mysterious, and sort of distrusU in the
arithmetic he studied at school
Well, it amt right-you're SO short.
We won't want you any more. Well get
who can count up better and that
spotter viii never find out what happened to
him, and forever lose confidence in his own
intelligence. These are tricks that are vain,
but those who are on the wing night and day.
dashing along over the continent, don't put
in their time without learning as they 60
I've known men to show up tricks to Pullman
himself that he never dreamed Of The old
men on the road have sowed their wild oats
and never need watching. 1t is an object for
them to keep their places. But the Young
men were coming and going all the time. and
applications are constantly made at head
quarters for rum 1t is good position for
a Young man with grit enough to keep to
q straight line. It's big experience.
The big work can only be done on the
oulfot or hotel ears ON a long run. That's a
3ouauza. conductor has to keep an ac-
CUNT OF every article he takes out with him.
orinS back all the scraps and have them
Teighed, and return a correct account of how
vaIything was disposed Of But they can
sasiiy knock the cOmpany's eye out for a soft
hing, If they are sharp enough. A con-
luetor i .iven a whole ham, which weighs
10 much, - rlany steaks and other articles.
If coui1e, they are the best the market can
give Bus tac porter can buy another ham
o. less Eiolcy- and stow it away, and the
:ont uctor can have nice juicy steak cut in
vC 1t looks hard to work ali thest. tbinos
without detection, but they've been done
md 5he thing used to work like gold mine
s hotel car conductor can get to be a stock
loldar in bank before he is so without any
rouble Embellishments Interview
One Source OF Sickness.
a very curious epidemic, resembling
Nh i'd fever broke out on Washington